Our pals at Red's Army might have the perfect way to summarize Brad Stevens' first two days of Celtics training camp.
Details. It is all in the details.
This appears to be the way Stevens is approaching his work with the Celtics. It is the way he had to at Butler when he led the mid-major Bulldogs to back-to-back Final Fours with talent very few considered among the top. Stevens' coaching chops and basketball knowledge were on display.
Whether that can translate to the NBA is another matter. Just ask Rick Pitino, a hall of fame coach, how difficult it is to adjust from the college to the pro game. They are very different.
So far, though, it seems as though Stevens has a good head on his shoulders and he is approaching this rebuild with the patience and knowledge that it will be a long road, but one that can be accomplished with some good coaching. Maybe it was best that the strong personalities of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce were cleared away for the rebuilding and Stevens could really build his program from the ground up.
Stevens seems to be the kind of players coach who will give his team space to grow. He seems to have the basketball knowledge and the ability to trust his veterans to lead and execute.
It was always the way his teams played that impressed his opponents, including his first round pick Kelly Olynyk who met Stevens as his head coach at Summer League in Orlando in July.
"Just watching him, we played against him the last couple years when I was at Gonzaga and he was at Butler," Olynyk said. "He's a mastermind pretty much. He's a student of the game and a really smart guy. His teams execute, they're smart, they understand the game. They basically just execute real real well at both ends of the floor. He is going to be a great guy to learn from and I can't wait."
At Butler, his teams had to be this way. Against the better, more talented teams in the NCAA Tournament, coaching mattered more than individual talent. There is no doubt Stevens can coach. And he will need all of that for Boston to have a successful season.
Stevens took a quiet approach this summer. Summer League occurred right after he was hired. He only gave small suggestions for improvement to each of his players participating at that time. That kind of approach likely will be a good thing for this young Celtics squad.
There will be plenty of hiccups along the way for a young team with a young coach.
